All hotels across the industry share a common goal – maximizing hotel revenue to be able to maximize profits. But that isn’t possible unless you leverage every booking opportunity. And that’s exactly where the channel management system comes into play.
What is hotel channel management?

Channel management is the process of managing hotel distribution channels and making your property available for booking to not one, but many distribution agents. Channel managers for hotels ensure that the potential guests have access to live availability and rates at all times so that you can sell maximum rooms. 

Here are a few benefits of having a channel manager for your hotel:

• No errors in rate adjustments and inventory updates

• Connection to a wide network of OTA profiles to increase conversions

• No risk of overbooking

• Dynamic pricing to increase bookings even during the off-season

• Tracking of competitors’ room rates available 

• Easy monitoring of room rates and OTA performance

Hotel Distribution Channels that You Need to Leverage 

Every hotel distribution channel has its own importance. Let’s understand each one separately. 

OTAs – OTA stands for an online travel agency. OTAs are third-party travel agents who showcase your OTA profile and get you bookings. A few examples would be Trivago, MakeMyTrip, Expedia.com, HomeAway, Booking.com, etc. 

Travellers today prefer booking online after rate comparison on various OTAs. In fact, as per a survey by Adara, a travel data company, 52% of millennials surveyed said that they prefer booking hotels through OTAs. Therefore, as a hotel manager, you should create an OTA presence of your hotel to increase your reach.  And a channel manager will synchronize your hotel PMS and data with the OTAs to maximize your bookings. 

Direct Channel – A direct channel is your hotel website. A lot of travellers visit the hotel website to make their final decision. Therefore, you must ensure a great user experience to make your website stand out. Moreover, with direct bookings, you will be able to save on commissions. 

Here are a few tips to increase direct bookings:

• Ensure rate parity across all channels but offer discounts on registration on your website.

• Allow flexible cancellations and easy refunds.

• Offer freebies with bookings that may include drinks, spa services, etc. 

• Offer cost-effective packages to encourage direct bookings. 

• Allow subscription to newsletters so that guests can receive promotions and discount details.

Global Distribution System (GDS) – A GDS is somewhere between offline and online channels. It is one of the most far-reaching channels that can target travellers that you may never be able to reach on your own. 

Leverage GDS to attract corporate bookings since it connects you to the world’s most recognized travel agents and companies. Create value-rich deals so that you can encourage these agents to make mass bookings for their clients with you. 

Offline Bookings – Offline bookings should never be overlooked since many travellers still find booking rooms online uncomfortable. Always keep some rooms available for guests who walk indirectly. It will also improve your brand reputation. 

A good hotel channel manager will create a mix of all these channels to ensure that your overall booking rate is maximized, and so is your revenue. Do your research and choose a reliable channel management system for your hotel. 

Brief about the writer

Karan Iyer is an end-to-end digital marketer and blogger at Aiosell who inherently understands the hotel industry with his hospitality background. Karan knows how to convert the pain points and challenges of the hotel industry into business opportunities, and that’s what he writes about for his readers. He also shares industry trends, insights, and news to help his readers stay up-to-date.